Bab 23: Payback
"So, you are the scoundrel who cheated me and steal Aryana's monthly pocket allowance and tuition fees for six years. How dare you! And it is good that you are here. You save me the trouble of going to you."
Erik's voice was cold and Beatrice felt like she was flung to the North Pole and she stood there frozen.
"Who …. who are you?" Beatrice stammered.
Elena was baffled. "What do you mean Sir Erik?" She then looked at Beatrice. "Don't you remember him? "He was Robert's employer."
Beatrice was aghast when she looked at Erik. Her face became so pale, it seemed all blood was drained from it.
"I have been sending Yana a pocket allowance of twenty-five thousand a month and one hundred thousand per semester for tuition fees. I learned the other day that she never received that money." Erik was still angry.
Elena's eyes widened like saucers as she stared at Beatrice in unbelief.
Aryana was dumbfounded. She remembered the look of surprise on Erik's face when she narrated how she turned to become a teacher instead of a doctor.
'He has sent me money all along?' Aryana glanced at Erik with a complicated look in her eyes.
"I …. I…." Beatrice was caught off guard. She stammered and was not sure how she can get out of this sticky situation.
"But I have given her allowance."
"What? A measly five thousand a month? And she has to be your daughter's slave?' Erik retorted.
"You owe Aryana more than four million and you have to pay her back"
"What? Fo… four million? Tha… that much?" Beatrice cried. She paled even more and started trembling.
Erik threw her an indifferent glance then he made a call.
Marlon barged in with a folder in his hand. He passed the document and a pen to Beatrice.
The moment she opened the folder, her hands trembled and the documents dropped and scattered on the floor. It was a deed of transfer for a prime residential unit she purchased in the city. Her knees buckled and she weakly sat down on the sofa.
Marlon picked up the documents and handed them back to her. "You either sign this or go to jail," Marlon warned her.
Aryana's questioning gaze falls on Erik. He just shrugged his shoulders.
"I cannot sign this without my husband's signature." Beatrice was still trying to get out of the situation.
"We checked, and the property was purchased under your name only," Marlon said.
Beatrice started wailing.
"Stop crying and sign. Or else I'll call the police and we will sue you for swindling." Marlon threatened.
At the end with much reluctance, Beatrice signed the deed of transfer and left the house fuming.
Elena sighed and said in a worried voice. "I feel like our life will be more complicated after this."
"Don't worry Aunt Elena. She will not bother you nor Aryana." Erik assured her.
Erik and company, stayed for lunch, after which Erik discussed the details of the contract that Aryana signed previously. She will be paid for every photo and video that they will use for the advertisement.
Marlon looked at Erik strangely. 'He never personally handled matters like this before. Could he have fallen for Aryana?'
He liked Aryana. But he noticed that Erik was giving her more importance which is not like him at all.
'I should not get too close to Aryana or I'll be doomed!' Marlon thought and he made the right decision.
—————
After that day, Aryana did not hear from Erik and Marlon. A representative from Gaeya Corporation contacted her regarding the contract she signed with Erik. Three of her photos were selected and the video of her jump on the cliff. She was paid handsomely and she was so happy.
She spent time learning self-defense. She enrolled in a mixed martial arts school and went there three times a week. She remembered the two incidents when Alex assaulted her and Antonio molested her. She vowed to herself that such an incident will never happen again. She will become strong.
She also became busy with her project and internship. The video blog she posted entitled "My Dream Vacation" earned a lot of praise and her fans grew in number. It also earned her enemies and haters.
On Monday morning, she went to the university to attend classes. Denise, Cindy and Alice, and a few other students were crowding the corridor blocking the path to her classroom.
"So she climbed someone's bed that's why she became the endorser of Paradise Island."
"Her sugar daddy must be an old rich man."
"What a pretentious woman. She acted pure and innocent but vile inside."
Aryana paused in her tracks. She regarded the people surrounding her before it rested on her cousin's smug face. She was sure that it was Denise who instigated the crowd to say bad things to her.
"If you don't have evidence I can sue you for defamation." She said in a stern loud voice. She tried to avoid trouble before but now she needed to protect her dignity otherwise people will continue to trample on her.
She heard gasps from Cindy and Alice. They were used to bullying her and she never retaliated.
Aryana developed her self-confidence when she started vlogging. The short time she spent with Erik has also taught her important life lessons. She was no longer the pushover she used to be when she was still staying with Denise. Now that she gained financial freedom and she has learned a little bit of self-defense, she cannot be easily bullied.
"How arrogant. Just because you have a few photos and videos published, you are now acting like a celebrity." Denise sneered at her.
"That's your perception, Denise. There is nothing I can do if that is how you perceive me." She gave her a meaningful smile. "Please let me pass as I have a class to attend."
Nobody moved aside so Aryana just stood there.
"What are you all doing here crowding the corridor? Go back to your class!" Miss Sue's booming voice echoed in the corridor. Miss Sue was a strict teacher. Many students were scared of her.
The students dispersed immediately and went back to their classrooms.
Aryana heaved a sigh of relief as she entered her classroom.
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